Second-half phobia - Fulham would be top now ... if only games lasted 45 minutes!

By MATT BARLOW and IAN GIBB

Last updated at 08:56 09 November 2007

First half good, second half not so good. It was Sven Goran Eriksson who made the phrase his own as he tried to pigeon hole England displays with his unique blend of blissful bewilderment and understated charm.

Now it is Lawrie Sanchez who is struggling to understand exactly how a team can perform so differently either side of their half-time cuppa.

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Fulham would be on top of the Premier League with 25 points if all this season's games had been only 45 minutes long. As it is, they have 12 points, just four above the relegation zone.

Sanchez is searching for a solution and using the statistics to help stimulate his team, pasting them up around the club's Surrey training base in a bid to work some magic on the minds of his players.

"Is it about fitness? No way," insisted Sanchez. "That's something we check very thoroughly. It's a psychological thing rather than the physical factor.

"It's a bit like learning to ride a bike. Between using stabilisers and actually doing the riding unaided, there is the falling-off period.

"But then when you get there, you wondered why you ever needed the stabilisers when you were falling off. We have to go through that learning process, of falling off and then eventually wondering why it was ever a problem."

Striker Clint Dempsey has had the figures drilled into his head and last weekend's win against Reading proves that the Fulham players may be winning their battle. They were 1-0 up at half-time but survived an equaliser to win 3-1.

Dempsey said: "We've been a good side. If games had ended in the first half we'd be top three, if they'd ended after 80 minutes we'd be top eight. We just have to work a few kinks out.'"

It isn't only Fulham who have been struggling to protect their goal against late onslaughts this season.

Sanchez said: "I looked at the paper after last weekend's results and saw that in the 90th minute and beyond, Everton scored twice, we got one in our win over Reading and then there was Arsenal.

"Every point is so important in the Premier League that teams who are a goal down are just going hell for leather at the death as they might as well lose by two than not try for that point.

"The opposition drops deeper and deeper into their own penalty area, trying to hold on, the ball gets knocked in and the defenders make one mistake..."

Ahead of last weekend's win against Reading, Sanchez watched Arsenal play Manchester United and paid close attention when the clocked ticked past 80 minutes with Sir Alex Ferguson's team 2-1 up.

The Fulham boss explained: "I sat down and thought: 'OK, let's see how United deal with it'. They are the best team in the country, if they can't deal with it, who can?"

Arsenal struck with a late equaliser from William Gallas and Sanchez said with a shrug: "United can't set out a game plan — and they control the ball so very well — and they concede, so what chance do we have?

"If it happens to Manchester United, the rest of us are just as vulnerable. It just happens that we have been hit by the syndrome more than any other team."

Sanchez's fondness for statistics extends beyond his analysis of late goals. His approach is football by numbers with facts and figures for all aspects of the game.

Dempsey said: "There are stats that are put on the walls of the training ground. The percentage of goals conceded when you lose the ball in your own half, goals you concede on set plays, a certain percentage you can score from the first touch. We have those reminders.

"He is a kind of a stats coach and sometimes the stats don't lie. We are just trying to play the odds and we've been doing good.

"I've never been much for stats. I'm more for going out there and playing to win. When you start thinking about the stats too much you can get sidetracked a little bit but they don't lie. It's good to be aware of them.'"

Fulham head to Liverpool tomorrow trying to change one key

statistic — no away wins in the Premier League for 14 months.

"Everybody know that stat," said Dempsey. "We are going to get that monkey off our back. Monkey? It's more like a gorilla, yeah, King Kong. Hopefully, we can finish on that one."